Book Review: METRO-GOLDWYN-VAMPIRE

 

Greg Mank gives readers another fast-paced ride down the dark corridors of classic Hollywood with his third novel METRO-GOLDWYN-VAMPIRE. 

The story is set in late 1934. MGM is getting ready to shoot director Tod Browning's latest thriller, a remake of his silent-era production LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT. Recent events off the set, however, are far more horrifying than anything Browning could dream up. A number of young women are being savagely murdered--and the victims have one major thing in common: they all auditioned for a part in Browning's new opus...the role of "Luna the Bat Girl". 

Against his better judgement, private investigator Porter Down gets involved in the case (he has a problematic relationship with the movie industry, particularly the folks at MGM). Down has faced danger many times in his adventurous life, but what he experiences in METRO-GOLDWYN-VAMPIRE literally brings him to the edge of madness. 

Once again the author puts his massive knowledge of Hollywood history and his vivid imagination to excellent use in fashioning a 1930s Gothic horror mystery that is decidedly creepy. METRO-GOLDWYN-VAMPIRE features an exceedingly nasty occultist and his "creation", a blasphemous being that just might be the most loathsome thing Porter Down has ever faced off against. 

This novel also gives film buffs plenty to geek over, with appearances by historical figures such as Browning, Bela Lugosi, Elizabeth Allan, Guy Endore, William Randolph Hearst, Marion Davies, and Thelma Todd. 

METRO-GOLDWYN-VAMPIRE is over 400 pages, but once you start reading it, you'll find it hard to put down. If you are an old movie buff willing to delve into the ghoulish and the gruesome, this book is perfect summer reading.